AMERICAN FORK — When Sienna and Sierra emerge from the kitchen, they bound into the arms of their loving caretaker with wet kisses and giant paw hugs — a joyous reunion after a five-minute separation.

Until recently, Troy Bentley worried that he might lose these two wolf-hybrid dogs — now playfully wriggling on their backs for attention — but today Bentley can rest easy. On Tuesday, American Fork's City Council approved an exotic animal ordinance that forbids pets like Bentley's from living in the city, but since Bentley was here first and he and his pets were already properly licensed, the dogs can stay.

"I get to keep my kids," Bentley said, as 78-pound Sierra tries to snuggle into his arms. "These are my kids. ... They're wherever I am. If I'm in the house, they're in the house. If I'm in the yard, they're in the yard. They're constant companions; they're always with us."

Bentley's wolf dogs will be grandfathered into the city's ordinance until they, or their owner, dies. The same permission applies to any other resident of American Fork who has a licensed exotic pet, although the city isn't aware of any other such animals.

For other creatures that may consider crawling into American Fork homes as pets, the message is clear: keep out. According to the city's ordinance, which will become effective within the next few days, exotic animals, such as lions, tigers, bears — oh my! — and porcupines and pythons, are not allowed in the city except in circuses, laboratory experiments, zoos and a few other facilities.

If residents decide to keep an exotic animal — which, among other things, the city defines as a creature with a potential threat to the safety of residents and an uncommon history of being domesticated — the punishment is a $250 fine and possible prosecution for a Class C misdemeanor.

"The purpose for the ordinance is public safety," said Kasey Wright, American Fork's city attorney. "This is a common ordinance in many cities, and it was just a hole in the American Fork city ordinance that they didn't have one."

The city will rely on residents to report infractions to the city, Wright said, as a means of enforcing the ordinance. But Bentley says ordinances like this are hard to keep track of and they put the blame for being dangerous on the wrong species.

"I think (the city) has good intentions, and they are protecting the citizens to the best of their ability," Bentley said. "But I think there are better ways. ... I would rather see the (pet) owner looked at instead of the breed."

Still, Mayor Heber Thompson says he doesn't think the new ordinance makes the town less friendly to animals.